Brazilian media agencies arereporting on a bizarre story out of the northern city of Belém, where a toddler pronounced dead suddenly reanimated shortly before his funeral, and asked his father for a drink of water.

Two-year-old Kelvin Santos was declared officially dead after succumbing to pneumonia at Aberlardo Santos Hospital. The family held an open-casket wake later that same day, inviting relatives to pay their respects.

"Everybody started to scream," said Antonio Santos, the boy's father. "We couldn't believe our eyes. Then we thought a miracle had taken place and our boy had come back to life."

Sadly, unlike similar stories in the recent past, the child soon returned to his previous state.

"Then Kelvin just laid back down, the way he was," Mr. Santos continued. "We couldn't wake him. He was dead again."

Kelvin's family took his body to the hospital in search of answers, but doctors had none. All they could do was scratch their heads and declare him dead once again. The funeral was delayed in hopes that Kelvin would return to life as before, but this time he was truly gone.

"Dead people don't just wake up and talk," Mr. Santos said. "I'm determined to find out the truth."